The best wine pairings with Beef Wellington

Beef Wellington is real treat and deserves an equally indulgent red wine to pair with it.

It is, however, less robustly flavoured than a steak or rib roast of beef with other key ingredients such as mushrooms and pastry which offset the flavour of the meat. So when picking a wine for Beef Wellington, you should consider flavour elements like: 

• Earthy umami mushrooms that call for a wine with similar savory or forest-floor notes
• Buttery pastry which can add a slight sweet note
• And of course the beef, which always commands a wine with plenty of structure

Given all of that, what to choose? 

Here are my top three wine pairings that I think fit the bill:

Good red burgundy and other pinot noir

Fillet steak - the cut that’s most commonly used for a Wellington - pairs particularly well with pinot noir - and that’s only improved by the mushroom duxelles (finely chopped mushrooms) in the filling. Think the best red burgundy you can afford with some bottle age (a 2017 vintage at the time of updating this entry in late 2023). A Chambolle-Musigny or Vosne-Romanée would be perfect if you can run to it. Top new world pinot from California, Oregon and New Zealand would also be great

For other great pinot noir pairings see here 

Saint-Emilion, Pomerol and other merlot-dominated Bordeaux

Also a top match though I’d suggest the right bank rather than the left - in other words merlot dominated wines such as Saint-Emilion and Pomerol, again at least 2-3 years old. Other good quality merlot from e.g. California would hit the spot too

Which other foods match well with merlot

Côte Rôtie (and aged shiraz)

In general I think syrah/shiraz is a bit powerful for a Wellington but Côte Rôtie from the northern Rhône has a finesse that would show both the dish and the wine off well. And I wouldn’t complain at a bottle of Grange or Hill of Grace!

Syrah also goes with these dishes.

Barolo

Beef Wellington isn’t a classic Italian dish but Barolo would be an excellent wine accompaniment.

Note: if you’re going for a top wine, particularly a delicate one go easy on the accompanying vegetables. Really buttery mash and maybe a few garlicky green beans or even peas would be perfect. Strongly flavoured veg like red cabbage would take it in another direction.

Similarly keep the sauce relatively light rather than dark, sticky and concentrated for these pairings

See also:

Which wine (or beer) to pair with roast beef

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